


Senses

by SimplyUnknown



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 03:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16421828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyUnknown/pseuds/SimplyUnknown
Summary: Even as children, the four turtles leaned towards one sense over the others.





	Senses

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a Discord Conversation.

For Raphael, it's touch.

Raph is the strong one, the tough one. There were days as kids when his brothers would bring him things just to see how long it would take for him to rip them in half or crush them down to half their size. But that doesn't mean that they get how he has to be careful _all the time_!

Broken mugs, ripped teddy bears, crushed skateboards...  The list of things the red-clad turtle had accidentally destroyed was endless. Each mess was greeted with a long suffering sigh from Donnie or an eye roll from Leo. _Clumsy Raph strikes again. Why can't you be more careful?_   But he _is_ being careful! It's just that things are so delicate! And that's just with his hands; Raph had destroyed 39 teddy bears in his sleep from them being caught on his spikes or crushed beneath his heavy shell. Even his old sais had been sent to Donnie for repairs time and again because Raph kept squeezing the handles a bit too hard during training and marks were showing on the metal.

Things being handed to him used to make him sweat. Any plans he made had to be drawn in crayon because he snapped pens and pencils so easily. And Raph stayed out of Donnie's lab as much as possible because of all the important things that Don could build that could so easily be broken by accident.

But...that didn't make it all bad.

There were a bunch of times when he was proud of being the strongest. The times when he easily lifted his brothers onto his back, or tossed April into the air. When Donnie gave him a grateful smile when Raph lifted up some cars something important was buried under in the junkyard, or Mikey's beam as he balanced on Raph's open palm and began his latest masterpiece.

And fighting, oh fighting was his release. The one time he didn't need to hold back; when he could use all his strength to protect his brothers, his family, his city. In a true brawl, against enemies who could take all he could dish out, Raph never felt so free.

So if a few...or a lot of broken dishes meant he could protect his family, then Raph could handle it.

* * *

For Donnie, it was sight. 

The softshell turtle had always had a unique way of looking at things. It wasn't like he saw things in different colors or saw letters flying off the page, like he's read on the internet. It's that when he looks at things, all he can think about is how to make it _better_.

Some of these are simple fixes, like fixing a table leg so that it doesn't wobble when Mikey puts dinner down, or keeping the TV from fritzing. But other times, things can get a little more extreme. Like adding an AI to the microwave to make it sing out when it was done. Like making shock collars and helmets that shouted out when someone needed to make a plan. Like seeing his shell in a mirror and being reminded how weak it was. How weak _he_ was.

Now, Donnie knows that he can overreact sometimes. He knows he can take things too far and that setting a limit only pushes him to break it. It's hard being the smartest one sometimes. The one who can look at their lives and see how much better things could be and often unable to do anything about it.

But, he doesn't hate it.

He loves those moments when a plan comes perfectly together, like with the Turtle Tank. When his brothers cheer and shower him with praise when he shows off the newest upgrade to his bo, or specialized battle shell. When he finishes a repair or an invention that will make their already difficult lives easier, even if only a little.

So maybe seeing things the way he does isn't the worst thing in the world.

* * *

For Leo, it was sound. 

Even as a child, Leo had been sensitive to noise. It wasn't something he brought up then; he'd assumed his entire family had aching ears when a car drove over a manhole too close to them, or had times when the dripping of a pipe drove them nuts. And when he was old enough to understand it was him, he didn't bring it up. What was really the point anyways?

The only times that Leo really felt peaceful was those occasional times when he could fully submerge himself. His family put it down to him being a slider, and maybe that was part of it. But in the water, with all the sounds muffled, Leo could truly feel at peace. No Donnie complaining about his latest invention not going right, or Mikey's babbling about his newest cooking show. No Raph's stumbling attempts at motivational speeches or Pop's ranting at something on TV. Just him and the quiet.

But, sometimes he needed the noise too.

He needs the creak of old pipes so he can predict an ambush. He needed the laughter when his one-liner hits just right. He needs the contented sighs that Don rarely lets out when they're snuggled on the couch for a movie night. He needs the wind overhead when he and his brothers race through NYC, stars shining overhead and feeling more free than any other time in their lives.

Leo needs to hear his family saying they love him.

So as loud as things can be in his world, Leo wouldn't trade it.

* * *

For Mikey, it was taste.

Food was something that the youngest turtle had always been drawn to. Even as a kid, when he was too young to go to the junkyard, he could make dinner for them when they came back. He pours through recipe books scavenged from the junkyard and follows cooking shows like a religion. But it's hard sometimes. He can't go out and get the fresh cilantro his casserole is calling for because of what he is. He can't add peanut butter to his dessert because Raph swells up like a balloon. And finding something that everyone can enjoy is often impossible because of diet and species differences.

Sometimes, Mikey wishes he didn't care. Wishes he could toss food together like Leo or Raph do and not be as precise with it as Donnie is with every invention. Wishes that there wasn't a list of allergies and food preferences hidden away in his room like some dark secret, and that he could use the freshest and realest ingredients and not cheap long lasting stuff April grabs them and whatever they can scavenge or pick up from food banks and the dump.

But, not all the time.

Not the times when he makes a necessary change that comes out even more delicious than what the recipe suggested. Not when he sits down with a hot meal with his family and they all praise it and make him feel warm and gooey inside. Not when April drops in with a surprise splurge of the freshest vegetables from a farmer's market and he can't stop squealing over all he can do with them. When he finishes a recipe and really feels like he made it his own.

Not when he's pretty sure his family would starve without him.

So he'll put up with subpar ingredients for a good meal with his family.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this came out easier than expected. The Leo thing was sort of inspired by the idea that as a slider, he'd probably be under the water the most of the four brothers. And his ears might be a bit more sensitive because of that. Still had a lot of fun writing this though. Hope you all enjoyed it!


End file.
